


Escape the Storm

by Thisistheend



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Female Character, Canon LGBTQ Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Female Character, Lesbian Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-15 00:58:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10547318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thisistheend/pseuds/Thisistheend
Summary: Max chose to sacrifice Arcadia Bay. They have nothing to do but hit the road and leave the past behind them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> **Letters from the Sky** by Civil Twilight

When Chloe looked back, the fires of Arcadia Bay raged over the horizon. A plume of gray smoke rose over the tree line like a twisting tornado, rising into a dark smog that spread across the sky. She had to bring her attention back to the road. They drove in silence for half an hour, nothing but spruce forests and haunting memories between them and their old home. Max had been quiet since they left the lighthouse; Chloe listened to the winds whisper to her through the cracked side window. She rested her hand on Max’s knee and squeezed it. Max was trembling. She lifted her hand off the girl’s thigh, resting it back on the wheel. Her eyes drifted to the open road, endless trees leading to the mountains. Gaze focusing on the dashboard, Chloe’s could see her own hands shake. Thoughts of the tornado came back, the twirling terror swallowing the town whole. Neon lights and wooden boards tumbling through the funnel and into the crashing sea. Chloe’s arms grew cold, making her shudder to the bone. She looked over at the other girl. Max’s shoulders were tense and rigid, eyes wide and scanning the road ahead for answers. The truck veered to the right, and Chloe corrected herself.  


She flooded with light and choked on her words. Chloe Price could not speak.  


Max found her voice when she spotted a rest stop. Forest gave way to a meadow, a patch of wildflowers in a sea of pines. Her seat stopped vibrating when Chloe killed the ignition. They were met with silence− not even the wind spoke. It made her feel uneasy, so she hopped out of the old truck and shut the door with a bang. Asphalt turned to dry grass that crunched under her sneakers. A barn stood in the center of the meadow, rotting wood caving in, overlooking the falling sun. It could collapse at any second. Her camera was in her hands before she knew it. She explored the outside of the ancient barn with new vigor, investigating its dark crevices and the flowers that grew through the wooden floorboards. Whenever she looked back, Chloe was there without fail. Occasionally, her blue-haired friend would grab her arm to help her balance. They were pirates again. Once, Max looked back and couldn’t resist taking the shot. Light from the setting sun came from a hole in the thatched roof, illuminating a blue Chloe orange. The girl turned the golden hour into a painting of complementary colors.  


She flooded with light and choked on her words. Max Caulfield couldn’t speak.  


Chloe parked the truck by an old motel, neon lights flickering above them. As soon as they checked into their room, she knew something was amiss. Max collapsed onto the perfect white sheets, contemplating the ceiling. Chloe joined her. Her gaze wandered to the starry sky through the open window. Minutes of silence was too much for her− this wasn’t like them. Chloe tucked the room key under her bra, motioning for Max to follow. They wandered the dimly lit hallways, Chloe finding her way with passing signs. The final door led to the swimming pool. Turquoise water was lit by white pool lights, water lapping at the tile stairs. Memories of Blackwell Academy came back to Chloe− she could see the remembrance in Max’s expression. No otters would swim in the Blackwell waters now. This time, they didn’t dive in. Chloe rolled up her jeans and took off her muddy boots, following Max’s lead in dipping her feet in the water. It was icy cold at first touch. The motel probably didn’t bother to fix the heater with so few customers. The two girls talked about life, the future, but never the events of yesterday. Galaxies observed them from above. Max studied them, and Chloe saw flecks of stars burning in the other girl’s eyes. She couldn’t help kissing her again.  


She flooded with light and choked on her words. Chloe Price could not speak.  


Max was the navigator. When the battery died in Chloe’s phone, she searched the glove box. Sure enough, Chloe’s father left them roadmaps before he died. They had passed into Nevada a few hours back. She saved her phone for emergency calls, but now the battery read dangerously low. It didn’t bother her in the slightest− maybe Chloe’s habits could spread to her like a disease. Max looked through the opposite windshield, framed by Chloe’s blue hair and tattooed arms. Some of the red mountains were so large that they stood still as they drove, like jagged teeth made of striped rock. A single car passed by on the road in a full day of driving. A rusty old van going god-knows-where. A field of solar panels appeared in the distance, guarded by barbed-wire fences and a tower. Government property, potentially housing aliens.  


Do you think they’ll find us? Max asked.  


Who the hell cares?  


Chloe, we’re the only survivors. Don’t you think that’s suspicious?  


Chloe sighed, her grip on the wheel tightening. They won’t find us.  


Max noticed the way Chloe’s nose crinkled. She grabbed Chloe’s free hand that rested on the cup holder.  


She flooded with light and choked on her words. Max Caulfield could not speak.  


Chloe always kept spare blankets in her truck for the nights when she wanted to be alone. Thrown into the truck’s bed, it was their motel room. Jagged peaks towered over them as they settled in, the truck pulled over on the side of the barren road. Thunderclouds formed behind them, and Chloe hoped that the storm wouldn’t head their way. They both sat up, legs crossed, anxiously watching a highway caked with red dust. The first lightning strike flashed over the mountains, followed by a boom of thunder. Panic seized Max’s body, and Chloe reached out to grab her shoulders. She should have seen it coming; she used to calm her during lightning storms in their elementary school years. Now she held Max in her arms, letting the girl bury her head into her shoulder. Both of them were shaking.  


Love you, Chloe felt the words slip out. She would never leave this moment, when light ignited the red mountains.  


Love you, too, was the muffled reply. As the lights danced with the beat of thunder, fresh tears fell from Chloe’s eyes. She knew that; she would be dead if Max’s words didn’t ring true. The time traveler continued to shake the terrors away.  


They flooded with light and choked on their words. They didn’t need to speak.


End file.
